In an ideal world, all traffic control equipment in an urban environment would be connected via a high-speed fiber-optic broadband internet protocol (IP) network. However, this is often not achievable for many communities due to budgetary or topographical reasons. A town in Colorado is now installing a wireless system to solve these issues.
Intuicom Incorporated, one of the USA’s leading suppliers of wireless systems to the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) market, has announced that it has been awarded the Wireless Traffic Communications Expansion contract for the Town of Castle Rock, Colorado, which is in conjunction with the town’s Transportation and Traffic Network Expansion Initiative that is currently in deployment. Named after a prominent geological feature near the town center, Castle Rock has experienced rapid growth over the last decade. The town had an estimated 55,750 residents in 2014, but this has increased considerably since then, and this expansion is a key driver behind the investment the town is making in upgrading its transportation network, moving to a centrally managed traffic control system. The goal is to design and deploy a transportation system capable of reducing driver delays, and better serving the community’s transportation needs, as its expansion continues.
Intuicom’s BroadBand Solutions radios were selected for their extended range and secure, high capacity throughput, providing the overriding framework for this project. The scalable system provides wireless interconnection for the town’s traffic signal controllers, while enabling centralized monitoring and management of the entire traffic network from the town’s Traffic Operations Center. With the varied terrain and inconsistent boundaries that comprise Castle Rock, the town’s Transportation Department was faced with a number of challenges as they looked to extend their fiber network in response to their expanding traffic control network. While most traffic administrators would admit that they would prefer to run fiber to all of their intersections, they soon discover the plan is simply unfeasible for a number of reasons cost being at the top of the list.
“With the rapid growth that the Front Range Urban Corridor (a region on the eastern face of the Rocky Mountains) has been experiencing, agencies are looking for cost-effective, yet secure solutions to extend their transportation networks,” commented Dan Paladino, director of sales and business development at Intuicom. “At speeds of up to 108Mbps, our BroadBand Solutions are engineered to address the extended range and throughput requirements demanded by the Town of Castle Rock’s bandwidth intensive applications. We are proud to be a part of this forward-looking initiative.”
